SSS in recruitment scandal - Katsina 51, Kano 25, Akwa Ibom 5; Lagos 7 ( Full list below)

 Premium Times has revealed that Nigeria’s internal secret service, the State Security Service (SSS), is currently enmeshed in a recruitment scandal following the exposure of a shocking lopsidedness in the composition of the new officers recently absorbed into the agency.

The agency commissioned 479 cadet officers after their passing-out parade in Lagos on March 5, at a ceremony attended by the Director-General of the Agency, Lawal Daura, and the Chief of Air Staff, Abubakar Sadique, air marshall.

The parade followed a nine-month training programme under the agency’s Basic Course 29/2016/17, which encompassed academic activities, insurgency/counter insurgency, intelligence operations and gathering, firearms drills and physical training exercises.

But the listing of the newly commissioned cadet officers seen by Premium Times reveal wide disparity in the numbers of slots allocated to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, indicating that the federal character principle may have been ignored in the recruitment of the officers.

Officially, recruitment for the Course was based on a minimum of five slots per state. Ostensibly to ensure compliance with the federal character principle in the exercise, applicants were last year made to sit for recruitment examinations in the capitals of their states of origin. The five slots per state were said to have been picked through the examinations.

However, it has emerged that the authorities paid scant regards to the federal character principle in the final selection of the cadets.

Although the authorities ensured that at least five cadets were recruited from each state and the FCT, they grotesquely tipped the scale in favour of some states in the balance of recruits that emerged from other extraneous considerations.

For instance, while only the minimum of five cadets stipulated per state finally entered the Service from Akwa Ibom, Nigeria’s largest oil producing state, a whopping 51 found their way in from Katsina State, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Director-General of the SSS, Mr. Daura.

It is not clear what criteria was used in the composition of the final list of the new officers.

The anomaly in the exercise is further evident in the disparity between intakes from the two most populous states in Nigeria, Kano and Lagos, which have 25 and seven, respectively, indicating that the size of the pool of applicants from each state was not a factor in the recruitment.

A breakdown of the newly commissioned cadet officers on geo-political basis revealed that 165 are from the North-west, about four times as many as those who were picked from the South-south (42).

The figures for the other other zones are North-east 100, North-central 66, South-west 57 and South-east 44.

This means that while 331 of the newly commissioned officers are from the 19 northern states and the FCT, less than half of the total intakes were from states in the southern part of Nigeria. See table and charts below for slots allocated to each state.

Attempts to speak with the SSS on the criteria used for the allocation of slots to states were not rewarded as at the time of this publication.

The agency has had no spokesperson since the removal of its last one, Marilyn Ogar, in 2015. The Director-General of the agency, Mr. Daura, did not pick calls or respond to a text message sent to his known telephone numbers.

Also, the Acting Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Shettima Bukar-Abba, did not pick his calls or respond to a message seeking clarifications on the role played by the commission in the recruitment exercise.

The Commission has the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the federal character principle in recruitment into the federal civil service and agencies.

In demonstration of the importance attached to the principle, it has been enshrined in every constitution of Nigeria since the country’s independence.

Section 14, subsection 3 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria states that: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such manner to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or sectional groups in that government or any of its agencies”.

Beyoncé Shows Off Growing Baby Bump -- See the Gorgeous Pics!

 The Lemonade singer, who is expecting twins with husband Jay Z, released new photos of her growing bump to Instagram on Thursday, rocking a bold, solid red Halston Heritage gown completed with black velvet heels and a tasseled purse as she went out to dinner with Jay and a group of friends.

Yahoo Boy Defrauds US Lady Of $5,260 On Facebook

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday April 27, 2017, arraigned one Onuoha Danhessy Akachukwu (alias Joe Dickson) before Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on a 6-count charge bordering on Conspiracy and Obtaining Money by False Pretense to the tune of Five Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty American U S Dollars ($5,260).

Onuoha Danhessy Akachukwu (alias Joe Dickson) is alleged to have used false Facebook accounts to defraud one Maria Jose Alvarez, an American of the sum of Five Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty American U S Dollars ($5,260).

The Nigerian guy who claimed to be an 

American Engineer based in United Kingdom, hoodwinked his victims by establishing a romantic relationship which according to him, will lead to marriage.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

In view of his pleas, the prosecution counsel, R.E. Alao asked the court to fix a date for trial.

With the defense counsel absence in court, Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to the May 18 for hearing and ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody. 

Spurs fan seriously hurt in attack after 'being mistaken for Chelsea supporter'

© Torch One time usage images spurs 

A Tottenham Hotspur fan was left with serious injuries after an unprovoked attack by a fellow Spurs supporter who may have mistaken him for a Chelsea fan, police said.

Michael Voller, 23, was punched in the face, causing a broken cheek-bone, eye-socket and skull, after Spurs met Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday April 22.

Officers have released images of the injuries suffered by the former Tottenham Hotspur gardener as they appeal for help identifying the suspect.

Mr Voller has since been discharged from hospital but police said there is concern about permanent damage to his eyesight.

The Metropolitan Police said the incident took place outside the Moore Spice Restaurant on Engineers Way at around 7.30pm, when the victim was identified and targeted by another group of Tottenham fans walking in the opposite direction.

It is believed that one of the group mistook Mr Voller for a Chelsea supporter and punched him in the face.

The suspect is described as a white man, aged in his early 20s and approximately 5ft 10in. He was wearing a black hooded top or jacket.

Detective Constable James Robb, of Brent CID, said: "This was a violent and unprovoked assault that has left a young man with some terrible injuries that could end up affecting him for the rest of his life."

Anyone with information is asked to call Brent CID on 020 8733 3737 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. - Press Association 

EFCC secures Total Forfeiture Order for Million Diezani used to bribe INEC staff

Justice Mohammed B. Idris of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of the proceeds of bribe given by former Petroleum Minister, Deziani Alison Maduekwe to some staff of INEC in the build up to the 2015 General elections.

The properties belonging to Christian Nwosu, the convict, are a landed property measuring 100ft by 80, lying and another situated at Okotomi layout, Obodogwugwu Quarters, Okpanam, Oshimili North LG and 100ft by 50, lying in the same local government area of Delta State.

Also to be forfeited by Nwosu to the federal government is the sum of N5m (Five Million Naira) recovered from the convict.Nwosu and two others were earlier arraigned on April 5, 2017 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC before Honourable Justice Idris on a 7-count charge bordering on receiving gratification to the tune of N264,880,000.00 (Two hundred and sixty-four million, eight hundred and eighty thousand naira) in which the convict (Nwosu) pleaded guilty of receiving N30m (thirty million naira) from the said campaign bribe money.

The convict and two others, Yisa Olanrewaju Adedoyin and Tijani Bashir had on March 27, 2015, allegedly received the slush bribe money from the former minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke during the administration of the former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in the build up to the 2015 general elections.

The 2nd and 3rd accused persons, Adedoyin and Bashir, pleaded not guilty while Nwosu pleaded guilty to the charge against him.

22-year-old Man Connives With Others to Gang-R*pe His Own Girlfriend in Lagos

A 22 yrs man, Subaru Folawiyo, who allegedly gang-r*ped his 25-year-old girlfriend with others still on the run, was on Thursday brought before a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

Folawiyo, who resides in Surulere area of Lagos, pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and r*pe.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Ibijoke Akinpelu, told the court that the accused with others still at large committed the offences on April 4 at about 3.52 p.m. at Block 4, Flat 2, Off Bello Road, Surulere.

Akinpelu alleged that Folawiyo and his accomplices gang-raped the girl. He said the accused was later apprehended after the girl reported the case at the Police Station.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, contravene Sections 260 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The Magistrate, Mrs.A.F. Adeeyo, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case until May 31 for trial.

German lawmakers approve partial ban of Islamic veil

German MPs on Thursday approved a partial ban on the full-face burqa Islamic veil and a package of security measures aimed at preventing extremist attacks.

This is as a result of several jihadist attacks, including a truck rampage through a Berlin Christmas market that claimed 12 lives, and come ahead of September elections.

The prohibition will apply to public servants -- including election officials, military and judicial staff -- performing their duties.

"The state has a duty to present itself in an ideologically and religiously neutral manner," says the text of the law passed by the lower house in the evening.

Germany has since 2015 taken in more than one million migrants and refugees, most from predominantly Muslim countries.

This has stoked a xenophobic backlash and boosted the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany party, which has attempted to link the influx to a heightened threat of terrorism.
'Limits of tolerance'

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the social integration of immigrants requires "that we make clear and communicate our values and the limits of our tolerance to other cultures".

The ban on full facial coverings allows exceptions -- for example, for health workers protecting themselves against infections or police officers concealing their identity.

People can also be required to remove facial coverings in order to match them with their identity papers.

Other security measures also include the use of electronic ankle bracelets, if approved by a judge, for people deemed a security threat, in federal police cases -- such as known Islamic radicals considered potentially violent by security services.